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Pat, Sounds like it worked out for you and the karaoke went really well. That's interesting about the songs. I'd like to hear more on that too. If the video pegs the meter maybe you can capture a still shot so we can see you all set up. 
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Pat,
There is an enormous item to mention. That gig will be remembered
by so many families for years to come. That in itself is invaluable
thing to have, those wonderful memories.
Glad it worked out well for you, and the Audience karaoke was a stroke
of genius.
Thanks for sharing!
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Also curious - which songs went over best, and which were you expecting to go over better that did not - and why do you think that is, in hindsight ? I've always heard from other musicians that James Taylor goes over real well; but his voice has a quietness to it that is hard to reproduce unless you have a LOT more vocal control than any of us who were singing. The songs that went over best were naturally those that we pulled off the best, and all of those were sing-along songs that you can sing with gusto. Pretty much anything by CCR, John Denver etc. VEHICLE by Ides of March went over best... partly because it came at the end of the evening after folks had been drinking for 2 1/2 hours... but that song was also a good match for my voice. As expected, Margaritaville was well received. Shambala by 3 Dog Night also went over real well.
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Here's the million dollar question - did the experience instill confidence and inspire you to want to do more ?
I am a hobbyist musician that has always had a fear of performing and not being well-received. Aside from the fact that it's hard to hold a day job, have a 'life' with your family, and also be an accomplished performing musician (I know many here do that) - I also attribute that fear to:
-- my strong love of music and fear of not doing justice to the songs that inspired me so
-- the unrealistic desire to live up to my own unrealistic expectations, and
-- the strongest of desires to please the audience, and the fear of not doing so
...just sharin' one person's neurotic fear of performance.
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Here's the million dollar question - did the experience instill confidence and inspire you to want to do more ?
I am a hobbyist musician that has always had a fear of performing and not being well-received. Aside from the fact that it's hard to hold a day job, have a 'life' with your family, and also be an accomplished performing musician (I know many here do that) - I also attribute that fear to:
-- my strong love of music and fear of not doing justice to the songs that inspired me so
-- the unrealistic desire to live up to my own unrealistic expectations, and
-- the strongest of desires to please the audience, and the fear of not doing so
...just sharin' one person's neurotic fear of performance. Joe V, Anyone ever tell you "you think toooooo much"? just aim and fire man . . . pull the trigger man! You'll be glad when you do. Later, Later,
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And do note the order there.
Ready, Aim, Fire.
Far too many do thus:
Ready, Fire, Aim.
--Mac
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regarding thinking too much...you're absolutely right
...I often say...I wish I could shut this thing off : )
You're advice is well taken, and slowly incorporated each and every day; thanks for reminding me.
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Don't try to shut it off, Joe - work towards disciplining it.
A little each day.
--Mac
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Here's the million dollar question - did the experience instill confidence and inspire you to want to do more ?
I am a hobbyist musician that has always had a fear of performing and not being well-received. Aside from the fact that it's hard to hold a day job, have a 'life' with your family, and also be an accomplished performing musician (I know many here do that) - I also attribute that fear to:
-- my strong love of music and fear of not doing justice to the songs that inspired me so
-- the unrealistic desire to live up to my own unrealistic expectations, and
-- the strongest of desires to please the audience, and the fear of not doing so
...just sharin' one person's neurotic fear of performance. I think these are legitimate questions each person has to answer for himself. Based on forum discussions about performing, I know there are many opposing opinions about what the goal should be (artist? performer? entertainer? something else?) and also many different opnions about what is "good enough" For me there is no "good enough" (to stop trying) but there *is* a sense of doing the best I can *today*, while continuing to improve for the next gig. And, as Graham said in his own "first gig" thread... it isn't that we don't care anymore as much as we understand that forgetting the words or flubbing a chord change is NOT the worst thing that can happen. Rational fear leads to preparation... Irrational fear leads to abandonment. Pick your path.
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regarding the idea of not being well-received:
I think it's fair to say that no performance is universally praised. Even professionals get bad reviews.
I view the audience's opinions as though they were plotted along a circle. No matter where you are on the circle, there's somebody diametrically opposed to you that will hate what you're doing.
But there will also be people on your side of the circle, and they will like what you like. Play to those people and accept that the others have a right to their own opinions.
But remember that their opinions reflect on THEM more than on YOU
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Pat,
You said . . . "VEHICLE by Ides of March went over best".
I would love to hear, if indeed it was done in BIAB, what and how you did that arrangement in BIAB of this classic song.
Later,
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"VEHICLE by Ides of March went over best"
Now I couldn't recognize that song by title, after a quick YouTube search - I have heard it before, and I love it.
Anything with an energetic horn section has a good chance at being a good crowd-pleaser, and this song of course rocks. I can see that one going over big.
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Pat,
You said . . . "VEHICLE by Ides of March went over best".
I would love to hear, if indeed it was done in BIAB, what and how you did that arrangement in BIAB of this classic song.
Later, Due to the fact that most cover songs with horns tend to have very specific horn arrangements, I check karaoke suppliers before I spend a lot of time trying to reinvent the wheel. My backing track for VEHICLE came from a supplier I just discovered recently. (When you buy a song from them, you get individual tracks which you can rearrange/remix any way you want. I typically omit the guitar so I can play that myself.) here's a link to the place http://www.karaoke-version.com/custombackingtrack/here's a link to their version of VEHICLE: http://www.karaoke-version.com/custombackingtrack/the-ides-of-march/vehicle.html
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No secret here, this is a favorite site on my play list.
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"VEHICLE by Ides of March went over best"
Now I couldn't recognize that song by title, after a quick YouTube search - I have heard it before, and I love it.
Anything with an energetic horn section has a good chance at being a good crowd-pleaser, and this song of course rocks. I can see that one going over big. because most bands play songs that contain guitar, drums, bass and keyboard, these classics with brass haven't been played to death like so many other songs. Since backing tracks provide the ability to play ANYTHING, it makes sense to focus on such songs and bring something to the crowd that's different yet familiar.
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No secret here, this is a favorite site on my play list. Gee Dan! Ya shoulda SAID something a long time ago! The ability to remix a song with all of its tracks is a real advantage... especially if you are already accustomed to working with songs at that level (as everybody here is)
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Pat, I tried to do a search to see how many years ago and how ofter this site has been called out by me and others here in the forum. But search does not work well. So you have to trust me on this one.
So yes the site is indeed very cool, For $1.99 USD you can have a note for note multitrack backing. But, to tell you the truth I prefer rolling my own in BIAB - just gives me so much more flexiblity with the tune.
And I have never been able to really integrate the individual tracks (to get those song specific licks) into a BIAB version. Just real hard to match tempo and timing. I would love to hear what you can do with it if you try to incorporate some tracks along with BIAB tracks.
Last edited by jazzmandan; 06/10/13 05:59 PM.
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Thanks Pat great site.
Later,
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